MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Chile ready to act as a 'bridge' between Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance
Latin American integration means having “a converging vision so we can be stronger” at global level, said Riveros Chile is ready to act as a 'bridge' between Mercosur and the Alliance of the Pacific so that Latin American can have a greater presence in the world state, said Chilean Deputy foreign minister Edgardo Riveros during a conference in Sao Paulo at the Lula da Silva think-tank.
“We want to act as a bridge between the Pacific Alliance and Mercosur. It is false the vision that both South American coasts are turning their backs on each other”, pointed out Riveros at the Chile-Brazil conference.
Chile is an associate member of Mercosur whose full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, while the alliance is made up of Colombia, Peru and Mexico besides Chile.
In his speech Riveros admitted the 'leadership' of Brazil in the region and defended Latin American integration which he said means having “a converging vision so we can be stronger” at global level.
“We are seeing that the Asian and African blocks are sharing and have powerful positions”, added Riveros who praised the different integration mechanisms of the region such as Unasur, Celac, Alliance of the Pacific and Mercosur.
On his side Marco Aurelio García head of foreign policy advisors to president Dilma Rousseff indicated that the region has advanced significantly in the last decades, although with differences, in the combat or inequality and exclusion.
As to the region's integration Garcia said that since the beginning of the XXI century, for Brazil relations are not only limited to trade affairs.
“Our regional relations are no longer founded on tariff issues. From some sectors there is a kind of ideological celebration regarding free trade at a moment in which free trade does not have the significance which they attribute it has”.
García recalled that Brazil/Chile relations go long back in history, when the launching in 1915 of the so called ABC, or Argentina, Brazil, Chile pact.
“That was again repeated when Getulio Vargas ruled Brazil; Juan Domingo Perón in Argentina and Carlos Ibañez in Chile” he said.
The Brazil/Chile conference was organized by the think-tank from former president Lula da Silva with the support from the Social Sciences Latin American Faculty, Flacso and the University for Latin American Integration, Unila.
Top Comments
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Read all comments“That was again repeated when Getulio Vargas ruled Brazil; Juan Domingo Perón in Argentina and Carlos Ibañez in Chile”
Aug 27th, 2014 - 04:45 am 0No it did definitely not! I have a close and very intimate relationship with the Ibañez family who used to own the Lider Supermarket chain. ¡Qué manure!
Riveros is full of it.
Yes more integration...... why hasn't that been tried before?
Aug 27th, 2014 - 05:19 am 0Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO)
Andean Community of Nations (CAN)
Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA)
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Central American Integration System (SICA)
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
Latin American Economic System (SELA)
Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
Mercosur
Organization of American States (OAS)
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI)
Pacific Alliance
Petrocaribe
Rio Group
Union of South American Nations (Unasur)
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, CEPAL)
Perhaps we need another group? A bank perhaps:
CAF – Development Bank of Latin America
Bank of the South (BancoSur)
Caribbean Development Bank
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Or perhaps more talk, how about another parliament:
Latin American Parliament
Mercosur Parliament
South American Parliament
Waaaaay too much talk and grand ideas. Get rid of the dead wood and stop creating new fora to integrate and just bloody integrate.
Mercosur is a dead weight and Pacific Alliance is dynamic. Trying to join the two will only slow down the Pacific Alliance. Perhaps Brazil should try and join a successful group instead of trying to pump life into the moribund one it is in already.
Poor Chile. Headed off in a different direction with responsible partners but now seeking to be a “bridge” over which the undemocratic and totalitarian mercosur can tramp. Seems like Bachelet was a mistake. Stuck with it now until the end of 2017. By which time argisur will have various means of undermining and wrecking yet another economy. Probably democracy as well.
Aug 27th, 2014 - 11:33 am 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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